


Vindicated

by starry_n1ght



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hope, One Shot, Post-Hogwarts, Redemption, Song Lyrics, Written Pre-Deathly Hallows, Written Pre-Half Blood Prince
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28703331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starry_n1ght/pseuds/starry_n1ght
Summary: In the past, Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley used to have some sort of relationship, a relationship that only they could have together. Their relationship faded away as they lost contact with each other after the war ended. Now, years later, Draco shows up at Ginny's doorway.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Vindicated

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot songfic with lyrics from "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional. Originally published on FFN March 2005. The story was written before HBP and DH and is not compliant with those books. There are a few differences/contrasts from those last two books, and I wanted to keep those differences for this story. I hope you enjoy it though!
> 
> I do not own anything Harry Potter related nor do I own the song "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional.

_Hope dangles on a string  
_ _Like slow spinning redemption  
_ _Winding in and winding out  
_ _The shine of it has caught my eye  
_ _And roped me in  
_ _So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing  
_ _I am captivated, I am…_

Draco Malfoy was never the apologetic or altruistic type. He wanted things to go his way, and no one else much mattered him. Many people saw him as a cruel, cold-hearted, and arrogant person. Most of the time, he had acted that way and enforced those opinions of him, that was until recently, until he realized those traits for the flaws they were and understood their consequences.

Almost five years ago, when Draco was in his last year at Hogwarts, he developed some sort of relationship with a Weasley, Ginny Weasley to be exact. Their relationship wasn’t a normal one. He wasn’t in love with her at the time, or at least he didn’t think so. What the two had together wasn’t really a friendship either. It was something different, a kind of relationship that only Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley could have with each other. In this relationship, there were the times when he wasn’t kind to Ginny. Draco was his usual arrogant self. Then there were the times where the two got along quite well and enjoyed each other’s company. The relationship they had centered on a range of emotions, including pain and anger but also excitement and security. The two could never fully explain their relationship.

After Draco graduated from Hogwarts, the two lost contact with each other. The war had ended that year and both Draco and Ginny went on their separate ways. Draco moved out of England, while Ginny finished her last year at Hogwarts. She continued to live in England after graduating and getting her own flat. Their unique relationship had faded away with their distance.

Now, Draco had come back to England, and he was determined to talk to Ginny. While he was away from the country he grew up in, he made several realizations about himself and decided that things needed to change. Draco had finally found hope; hope in that he could become a better person, and hope in that he could finally set a few things straight in his life.

 _Vindicated  
_ _I am selfish  
_ _I am wrong  
_ _I am right  
_ _I swear I'm right  
_ _I swear I knew it all along  
_ _And I am flawed  
_ _But I am cleaning up so well  
_ _I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself_

Draco stood silently outside the door of Ginny’s flat. After all the years, he wondered what Ginny would be like now. He wondered what she would think of him, but he wasn’t here because he wanted to know how she felt about him. He was here because he wanted to let Ginny know that he was finally becoming a better person. He was finally becoming the person that Ginny had thought that he could be when she had seen his potential. He recognized the part she had played in his life and the significance in how it lead him to where he was now. All that he wanted to do was tell her this and put closure on the relationship they once had.

He reached his hand out and knocked on her flat door. A moment passed and he heard nothing, no moving about, silence. He waited in the doorway for another moment wondering if maybe he should leave and try another time. Ginny probably wasn’t home.

Then…the door creaked opened.

“Sorry, I was just-” Ginny’s eyes widened when she saw him and she turned silent. She looked almost exactly as he remembered her, but he could tell that she had matured. She was more of a young woman now than the girl he remembered, and she had grown into her looks. Though, her many freckles still spotted her face, and her brown eyes still sparkled with life.

“Blimey, I wasn’t expecting this... I mean, you, being here," Ginny said with the look of slight shock still present on her face. "How are you?” She spoke again trying to regain her composure.

"Hello to you too," Draco suppressed a smirk, and he replied to her question, “I’m good.” He didn't elaborate, he was never a fan of small talk and making small talk with her felt odd even after all of the years.

“Well, er, that’s good. Do you want to come in?” She gestured her hand inside her flat.

“No," he shook his head, "I’m fine here.” He couldn’t take a step in, as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t.

“Okay…” Ginny paused and thought for a second, wondering what to say. “Why are you here at my flat anyway?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask that,” he smirked, his eyes sparkling. “Why do you think I’m here?” He couldn’t help but tease her a bit. She was always fun to tease.

Ginny hesitated, “I- I don’t know.”

“Oh, I think you do know.”

“Whatever you’re doing, _Malfoy_ , don’t do it. Not now,” her eyes narrowed as she spoke with slight annoyance in her voice. He didn't miss her emphasis on his last name.

“Sorry, Weasley. I didn’t mean to cause your temper to flare.”

Ginny glared at him without replying.

Her glare reminded Draco of why he was here in the first place, and he became serious. He knew that he had to tell her now and stop delaying it.

“Fine, enough of that. I’m not the best at this, actually I’m quite horrible at this, but,” he paused debating one last time before continuing, “bloody hell, I’ll just say it. I wanted to let you know that I’m trying to become a better person, and it’s because of you.”

He waited a moment to see if she would reply, but Ginny couldn’t seem to speak in response and only kept her eyes on his.

He started once more with a bit more confidence in his voice, “I see myself from your perspective now. I’ve realized that I was selfish, arrogant, and cruel. I’m sorry I was like that during Hogwarts. I'm sorry for the way I treated you sometimes and how I treated others, for the pain I caused. I was a prat, and that's putting it lightly.” To himself it felt so weird hearing those words come out of his mouth, and Ginny seemed to feel the same way.

Any anger that Ginny held previously towards Draco in the midst of his teasing had been forgotten in the surprise of his words. She was silent. She couldn’t find the words to say in reply. The Draco Malfoy she knew did not apologize. This could not be the same Draco Malfoy…

 _So clear  
_ _Like the diamond in your ring  
_ _Cut to mirror your intention  
_ _Oversized and overwhelmed  
_ _The shine of which has caught my eye  
_ _And rendered me  
_ _So isolated, so motivated  
_ _I am certain now that I am…_

In the silence, Draco noticed a ring on her left hand. The diamond in it sparkled underneath the hall light.

He stiffened. Why did he not think there could be another man she was interested in now? Why did he care if she was with another man? He only came here to tell her one thing and to finally close a chapter in his life; the chapter that she was in. It’s not like he loved her or anything… he hadn’t seen her in years.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” he asked finally breaking the silence between him and her. He was still curious about it, though he could take a guess at who had given her the ring.

“Oh, it’s not what you think,” Ginny replied hastily, the shock of Draco’s apology slightly wearing off now. She glanced down at the ring on her left hand. “Harry proposed to me, and I didn’t say yes, but I didn’t say no. He still gave me the ring even though I didn’t answer,” Ginny stated while realizing that it all sounded ridiculous especially given that she was wearing the ring. Why was she wearing it?

Draco was stuck on what she had said. Potter, of course it was Potter. Harry Potter always bested Draco when it came to what he loved the most. ‘ _Wait…’_ he thought, ‘ _I don’t love her… or do I?’_

“You’re wearing it,” he stated simply. “Why?”

“I don’t love him. I’m going to give it back to him. I don’t know why I felt like wearing it,” she paused, “I guess I wanted someone other than Harry to give it to me.” Ginny slid the ring off her finger and set it aside on a small table in her entryway.

 _Vindicated  
_ _I am selfish  
_ _I am wrong  
_ _I am right  
_ _I swear I'm right  
_ _I swear I knew it all along  
_ _And I am flawed  
_ _But I am cleaning up so well  
_ _I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself_

At her words, Draco became the speechless one. He wasn’t quite expecting that for an answer. He was tempted to ask who the “someone other than Harry” was, but he didn’t. He could figure out whom she was talking about, and now he wasn’t sure if his initial plan coming here was the best idea.

“So, you’re actually apologizing for once? I never thought I’d see the day,” Ginny spoke to break the silence.

“Me neither, but it’s here,” he laughed dryly.

“You know…” she stopped for a few seconds and looked as if she was remembering something. “When we were at Hogwarts together, I thought I could help you, that you could be a better person. It was naïve of me, but I knew you were different than what you portrayed to others. There were times I caught glimpses of that and who you really were beneath it all. I guess I must have had some sort of impact on you since you didn’t join the Death Eaters.”

“I knew you wanted to help me, and you did influence me on the Death Eater issue. I remember being so stuck on joining them and following that path, because that’s the only choice I thought I had, the only option I knew for myself, but then you...I don’t know how you did it, but you convinced me otherwise. And I'm not easily convinced, especially back then, but I thank you for that. I couldn’t imagine what my life would have been like had I chosen differently.”

“Even I’m not sure how I managed that,” she paused then spoke again, “I’ve wondered about you ever since you graduated. I hope you’ve been doing alright.”

“It’s been an interesting few years of my life, I can tell you that. A lot has happened, good and bad.”

“I can imagine.”

There was an awkward feeling between the two, an unspoken tension that wanted to break the surface.

 _So turn  
_ _Up the corners of your lips  
_ _Part them and feel my finger tips  
_ _Trace the moment, fall forever_

Ginny looked right into his eyes. She remembered looking into his eyes many times before and every time that she did, she would get lost in his silver-grey irises. She had missed him so much and now, for him to be here at the doorway of her flat…

“What ever happened to us? We-”

“We can’t,” he stated frankly. In that moment, he had almost reached out to touch her, but he caught himself before making a move.

“What do you mean by that?” Ginny looked at him, the confusion clear in her eyes.

Draco saw the confusion in her eyes and regretted coming here to see her. He didn’t want to remember her like this. All he wanted was to see her smile before he left.

“Can I see you smile one last time?” He wanted to see one smile to remember her by, one smile that will remain in his mind forever.

In response Ginny looked at him awkwardly, she was still confused, but then she did what he said and smiled. The smile only lasted for a brief moment but to Draco it felt like an eternity.

 _Defense is paper thin  
_ _Just one touch and I'd be in  
_ _Too deep now to ever swim against the current_

 _So let me slip away, s_ _o let me slip against the current  
_ _So let me slip away, so let me slip away...  
_

After seeing Ginny smile, Draco wanted so much to touch her smooth freckled face and make her happy. He couldn’t though, he had to go now. The longer he stayed near Ginny, the harder it became for him to leave and let the past go.

“I have to leave now, I can’t stay any longer. I’m sorry. I only meant to stay for a bit. I only wanted to let you know that I’m working to change, all because of you. Goodbye, little Weasley.”

Before Ginny could say anything in reply, Draco turned and began to walk away. Ginny watched his back as he was leaving. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to run up to him and forget about everything else. She wanted so badly to convince him that he didn’t have to go.

“Draco!” she called out to him, hoping for him to come back.

Draco stopped and was motionless for a moment. He wanted to turn around and go back to her. He wanted to be with her forever. He never wanted to walk away, but another part of him wanted to just let it go. Ginny deserved better than him, so much better. It wasn’t meant to be, a Weasley and a Malfoy.

But then again, maybe it was.

Making a decision, Draco turned around to face Ginny.

“Yes, Ginny?” he answered her, his eyes meeting hers.

Ginny walked up to him and spoke softly, “I won’t let you slip away from me.” She smiled at him, and this time her smile was a true one, not the forced one she wore the moment after Draco had asked her to smile. The picture of Ginny’s smile would be painted in his memory forever.

Draco looked at her like he was looking at her for the first time in ages, and he also smiled; an actual smile, without the smirk this time. Maybe things will turn out to be much better than he thought they would.

Ginny held out her hand for him, and Draco took it in his as they walked back toward her flat together. For the first time in a long time, he felt content.

 _Slight hope_  
_Dangles on a string  
_ _Like slow spinning redemption..._


End file.
